Leaning In – A New Center

How Do You Deal With Resistance In Life?

Explore How Acro Yoga, Contact Improv and Movement Can Help You Face Resistance

Life comes in cycles, we all experience this. With highs and lows that fluctuate and mark changes in our lives. At times we meet resistance when we want to move forward. It would seem that life wants us to take a step back to regain balance, but what if you decide to Lean In?

When resistance meets you head on, rather than allowing yourself to be pushed back, instead use that pressure as a point to Lean In to and you may be surprised to find balance here. You can create a New Center.

How To Use Movement Principles To Find Balance in Your Life

I found this inspiration in my exploration of Acro Yoga and Contact Improv, where an exchange of weight and leaning in to points of pressure create beautiful acts of balance. Balance obtained with awareness of contact points and leveraging your weight against another’s weight so that the opposing forces create a new center point between the two.

In Acro Yoga, this is seen in the way a Flyer (or the elevated individual) leans their weight into the Base (the individual with most contact to the ground) who is applying resistance for the Flyer. If the Flyer allows themselves to be pushed back, their feet will never leave the ground. However, if they Lean In to the resistance the Base is providing they can find stability at the point of contact and fly!

In Contact Improv two individuals can lean in to one another at an angle that would be impossible to uphold as separate bodies, but by trusting the point of pressure they can find that new center and stay standing together. Finding this counterbalance and connection they are able to move together in unison, actively changing the center point through awareness of the shifting weight, applying mutual force and being open to possibilities.

Awareness is the Key to Finding Balance

Bringing awareness to the resistance in your life and allowing yourself to Lean In to the points of pressure and leverage your energy can open up a world of possibilities! You can no longer be knocked off your center as you can adapt and find a new center in any circumstance. Life then becomes a beautiful dance.

There is no need to try and control the outcome of this dance, just tap into awareness of self, awareness of outside forces and play with the possible outcomes. You can always shift your weight and find a New Center.